


So We Sound Our Victory Cheer

by DGCatAniSiri



Category: The Technomancer (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Post-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 19:37:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20296858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DGCatAniSiri/pseuds/DGCatAniSiri
Summary: The battle's done, and we kind of won...





	So We Sound Our Victory Cheer

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from "Where Do We Go From Here?" from the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Felt extremely fitting, given the downbeat nature of the endgame.

The first thing he thought as the ground shifted under his feet, as he lost sight of Andrew and Neisha as the metal walkway broke apart from the path that they’d been taking to the heart of the facility, was that it wasn’t fair.

Not that fairness had made much of an impact on Zachariah Mancer’s life to that point – the death of his mentor on a distant battlefield, Viktor turning the ASC on him, the decimation of the Technomancer order to a ragtag band of refugees who’d had to run from the place they’d called home to the city of Noctis... His life had been full of unfairness as of late. Even getting to defeat Viktor in battle, his victory had felt a little empty when the bastard died, having a heart attack, his heart giving out as a result of the fight. Even though Zachariah preferred to leave those who he’d defeated in combat alive, allow them to face a later tribunal and judgment, he wasn’t going to get that satisfaction. Viktor was dead, and in some ways, managed to escape justice for what he’d done, since he’d never face a trial, have to account for his crimes.

And then there was a giant worm. 

Because why not.

Somehow – Zachariah was too busy fighting for his life to really grasp the concept of the how it happened, just that it did – the worm died, and, presumably, Zach had been the one who’d killed it. He’d looked around, trying to see Andrew or Neisha – hell, even Amelia or Scott, who’d probably left the safety of the rover to find out what was going on by this point – as they’d attempted to rejoin him, that they’d found some way of reconnecting with him, some other path. He had a pang of worry at not being able to spot them, afraid they might have fallen into the great chasm below, joined by the damned worm, possibly flattened by its fallen corpse. 

No, he wouldn’t accept that as a possibility.

He continued on, into the heart of the facility, and... found out the truth. Earth was gone. Mars was alone. Humanity only existed on the red rock. Even as that was sinking in, Zachariah was joined, Neisha and Andrew, then, shortly after, followed by Amelia and Scott. Yet that little relief wasn’t enough to truly offset the shock and horror. 

Earth was gone. There would be no aid coming from the cradle of humanity, no communication to ever occur. Some unknown disaster had befallen the planet that they’d been so determined to contact, to... Zachariah didn’t even know at this point what he’d hoped would have come from the other planet. Cripple the corporations? Offer aid to their countrymen? Have some solution that had eluded those who lived on Mars? Whatever solution might have come in his hopes, it would never happen.

He knew that he had to tell the truth to the rest of Mars about Earth – maybe that little bit of additional awareness that humanity on Mars was all humanity still left in this lonely universe, and if they wiped one another out, they’d render the entire species extinct, would help convince some people to lay down their arms, talk things out. The fate of Technomancers was another story – the truth of who and what they were would be one more upending of the status quo in Abundance. Could the city stand another? He didn’t know.

He had time to decide, though. They’d make a decision when they got back to civilization, to Abundance. Still, he suggested that they return first to the Mutant Valley – not just to assure Phobos that they’d made it through this, but also to ensure that someone else knew what they’d found in case of something happening to them, could pass their information on to Dandolo and the other Technomancers – and then they’d travel on to Noctis. Rebuilding the Technomancer order there, instead of Abundance, had a sort of symbolism to it, at least as far as Zachariah figured. It would show their support of Dandolo’s system of offering refuge to both human and mutant, and perhaps even give the Technomancers a new place, one of neutrality in the face of the corporations, instead of being their soldiers. 

The rover was very silent on the trip back. No one really wanted to discuss their discoveries. There was just too much weight to it all, and it seemed like things had... Well, done exactly what they had, changed irreparably. Things would never be the same again. 

Phobos greeted his friends warmly, accepting the backup of the data that Zachariah had found, promising that he’d wait a reasonable amount of time to release it if he didn’t hear from them. Hopefully, Zachariah was just being paranoid, too used to caution and distrust given everything that Viktor had put them all through, but better too paranoid than not paranoid enough, again, given everything.

They didn’t remain in the Mutant Valley for long, though. The way they’d begged off Phobos’s request to stay and recuperate after the frozen valley was that they wanted this all done and over with sooner, not later. But the truth was, at least for Zachariah, there was a hope and intent to enjoy this last little taste of civilization – if he did come clean about the Technomaners’ origins, then the likelihood was that they’d all be run out of civilization, at least for a time. Humans weren’t ready to live openly with mutants, even if mutants were, in effect, humanity’s children anyway. Even if Technomancers looked human enough, knowing them to be mutants would be enough to force them to be driven out – mutants scared people, end of story. It wasn’t fair, and Zachariah hoped that it’d be something that would be forced to change, given everything that had happened, but it was the case, at least for the time being.

Again, the ride out was quiet. There was ambient noise of the rover - the wheels cutting through the Martian dirt, the engine chugging - and a few scattered attempts at trying to start some kind of conversation, but... It all just seemed to fall apart as they all returned to the thought of what they’d discovered – that Earth was gone, that Mars was alone, and people were still killing each other over this world.

Zachariah had put on the brave face, made every effort to stay standing in the face of his existence being rocked like this. But, in the final analysis... He had no idea what to do next. 

Even as they entered Noctis, there still had been no serious conversation among any of the weary travelers. Dandolo and a group of the Technomancers had greeted them, interested in knowing what they’d learned, and horrified to learn that Earth was gone. Despite the somewhat mythic status the blue marble had attained among the population of Mars... There had been a comfort in knowing it was there, even if they hadn’t realized it. And now it was all gone.

Dandolo somehow had the presence of mind to declare that the travelers were in no state of mind to make any further decisions about things – the five of them had been through a lot and needed the kind of relief that would come from a meal, shower, and night’s rest.

“Maybe not in that order,” Andrew added, though the joke seemed strained, a statement said more for the fact that he felt that the tension in the room needed to be cut, rather than the words holding any actual humor. 

The room that Dandolo had gifted Zachariah was still open – Dandolo’s generosity apparently calling for allowing him the place, even if he’d had to abandon Noctis as a practical matter. Zachariah collapsed on the bed, not sure if he’d actually fall asleep. Still, he’d been given a reprieve from making world-shaking decisions. That was something.

Also, he should probably use a different term, considering...

Still, despite his exhaustion, the ultimate truth was that Zachariah was simply too wired to truly fall asleep at this point. He moved over to the workbench, intending to tinker with whatever he had available to distract himself, maybe trick his mind into shutting up for a little while so that he could turn around and get some sleep.

He didn’t know – didn’t care to know – how long he’d been at it when a voice came from the doorway. “Can’t sleep either, huh?”

Zachariah couldn’t help the smile that came to his face, wouldn’t have anyway, at Andrew’s words. He turned to see that Andrew had already slipped in and closed the door behind him – no audience for them, finally.

“Pretty hard to, really,” he answered. He rose from the workbench and wrapped his arms around Andrew’s waist. “I’m glad you’re here, though.”

“Yeah. Thought you’d be.” Andrew reached up with his flesh and blood hand, cupping Zachariah’s face. “I’m still not sure about everything we saw. You know? And... it just never really felt right talking about it in the rover. Even with all the deep, intimate talks we’ve had in there.”

Zachariah chuckled, aware that the rover had definitely not been the kind of place to really have genuine emotional intimacy. Between the seat restraints and the fact that if it were any smaller, those in the front would have to crawl over those in the back to get out... Not exactly either of their idea of a place to just sit and talk. Amelia might love the damn thing, but after all of this, Zachariah wanted to have sky over his head for a while.

He also wanted to keep this man in his arms, something that was also hampered by the fact that they had to sit in different seats in that cramped space.

“I’m glad you’re still with me,” Zachariah said. 

“What, did you think I was in danger of going anywhere?”

“More... With everything else that’s happened, it’s nice that there’s still something I can rely on to still be here.”

There was a brief silence, Andrew probably thinking of a joking remark, then swallowing it down as he realized that Zachariah was entirely serious. “Hey. Whatever happens next, I’m gonna be here. You can count on that. This whole thing has been crazy, but... What matters now is taking this next step together.”

With relief, Zachariah smiled. “Yeah. You’re right.” He was not relieved of all the pressure – there was going to be some kind of reckoning when the truth about Earth was known, and the world was only going to turn upside down all over again. But he could rely on Andrew, if nothing else.

They held each other for a long moment, before finally moving back towards the bed, the both of them settling in comfortably, Zachariah resting comfortably against Andrew’s chest, savoring the feeling of being held by his lover.

“You know, I don’t think I ever expected being in the Great Master of the Technomancers bed,” Andrew said with a grin.

“God, please, don’t remind me of that...” Zachariah murmured. He was far from ready to be the official leader of the Technomancers – to this point, taking the title had been a bunch of words, as much as it had been a formality. The actual act of being at the head of the Technomancer hierarchy was something he couldn’t even truly get his head around as a concept. “I’m not even close to being ready.”

“Really?” Andrew asked. While having a typically sarcastic edge, the question still had the touch of genuineness to it that indicated that he didn’t believe that Zachariah was so lacking in leadership ability. “You held our little group together pretty well. Maybe not the same as an entire organization like the Technomancers, but... You’re capable. Don’t sell yourself short.”

It was encouraging, hearing his lover’s faith in him. Still, Zachariah feared he wasn’t up to the task, that the leadership of the Technomancers was too much – he’d only been a rank and file member just a few short weeks ago, had it really only been that long?

“There’s going to be so much that comes next. This is... It’s going to change everything. And... I don’t know if I’m ready for this.”

“You really think you’ve been ready for everything that’s come so far?” Andrew chuckled, gently squeezing Zachariah with affection. “You’ve been making this all up as you’ve gone along. And you’ve kept us alive, while you got the job done. So... Even if it’s all about to go to shit, you’ve made it this far.” A beat. “We’ve made it this far. So... Guess we’ve just got to make it a little further.”

“A little?”

“Okay, a lot. I’m just trying to build up your confidence.”

Still, Zachariah smiled. “It may be working.”

“I could keep going, then.”

“Careful. Don’t want me getting an inflated ego.”

“Fair point. I think that’s my job, after all.”

There was a long road ahead. There was a lot still to do. Zachariah didn’t know what kind of ending it would have. But as he rested his head against Andrew’s chest, hearing his steady heartbeat... It didn’t feel quite so impossible a task.


End file.
